Of Crappy Birthdays and Last-Minute Gifts
by Yuppypuppies628
Summary: Nico di Angelo doesn't think his birthday is significant, and he spends his afternoon working at the local store that was basically a crappy Walmart. There he finds a frantic-looking blonde who is buying a last-minute gift for his sister. I wonder what will happen? Solangelo Mortal AU I have writer's block so I'm sorry if the story sucks.


**Sorry I haven't updated the other story. I've had a minor case of writer's block… But you don't want to hear excuses! You want to read a fic! (Well, I hope you do, because you're reading this and you're on this website)**

 **So yeah, have fun with this horribly written oneshot!**

 **disclaimer: I do not own the characters. They belong to Rick Riordan, but believe me, I will perform a satanic ritual to get them in my possession…**

 **this is full of fluff. I normally hate writing fluff, but for the sake of Nico…**

It wasn't the best birthday ever.

It was January 28th, which meant that Nico was officially turning 16. Usually, that would be a big deal, but with a father who seemed more like some distant relative who had the responsibility of raising a child shoved onto his shoulders, a dead older sister and mother, a younger half-sister currently across the country at some boarding school, and an asocial life, it wasn't. The only friends he had were busy with college applications and whatnot since they were in their senior year, and he didn't want to bother them by telling him that it was his birthday. It wasn't like it was important enough.

But he still couldn't help feeling a bit let down that nobody had pulled him aside and wished him a happy birthday once that entire day, or that anything special happened. And he was definitely not feeling up to it when his father just _had_ to remind Nico about his job at the crappy version of Walmart like he didn't remember what day it was (which he probably didn't).

So here Nico was, at the store with his weird uniform, watching some (kind of hot) blonde guy dashing around madly, picking up various things, muttering to himself, and putting them back. It was the most eventful thing that had happened all day. Eventually, though, Nico got bored of it and just decided to help.

"Hello, can I help you?" he asked the blonde, who looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Yes, thank you so much! I'm looking for a birthday present for my sister, Kayla," the blonde grabbed Nico's hand somewhat desperately. Nico tried not to pry his hand away and tell the guy to fuck off.

"Um, alright. How old is she turning?"

"Fourteen. She's turning fourteen. I don't know what to get a fourteen-year-old girl! I can't very well get her some doll like I did when she was younger, and I certainly can't get her some cheap bracelet, that's too unoriginal! And I can't-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Nico said, not feeling very sorry at all. "But could you maybe tell me some of her interests so that we can find something for her instead of listing things she wouldn't want?"

"Oh yeah, of course. Well, um, she likes painting and art and stuff. And she likes playing the piano and singing. She's great at that. So yeah, arts and crafts and music."

Nico had the present in mind, and began leading the blonde, who introduced himself as Will, to the aisle with the arts and crafts stuff. He had gotten this for Hazel for her last birthday. In the meantime, Will started talking and wouldn't stop.

"I'm a senior in high school and I'm trying to get into med school so that I can become a doctor like my dad," Will said at one point. "He's not the best dad in the world, what with being away all the time, but he saves lots of lives with his doctor skills and stuff, and I admire that. I still wish he would come around more often, though. Things are a bit hectic at home since there's half of us hating Dad and the other half just wishing he would come home and make us a perfect family again."

Nico could somewhat relate to that. He found himself pitying Will, and an urge to give the guy a hug. _No, Nico_ , he reprimanded himself. _You do not hug strangers_. And yet he felt a connection to Will, however irrational it was.

After lots of more talking and horrible puns and silly anecdotes about Will's siblings (Nico would be lying if he said he didn't laugh at any of them), they got to the box of premium drawing charcoal and toned sketchpad that would soon be given to Kayla. It shouldn't have happened, but Nico could feel a tiny crush on Will starting to form.

"Thanks!" Will gushed upon seeing it. "It's perfect, um… What's your name?"

"Nico."

"That's a cool name!" the blonde beamed. "This really means a lot. Today's her birthday and it was so last minute and I can't thank you more."

"Cool," Nico said absentmindedly, lost in thought. It was too bad they would never meet again. He was too busy thinking to control the words that were coming out of his mouth. "Today's my birthday, too."

"What?!" Will was looking at him like he said that he had just murdered his mother. Nico immediately regretted saying anything and tried to play it cool while Will made a scene over it. "And you're working?!"

"Apparently," Nico shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal? Nonsense. Here, do you have a phone?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Give me your number. I'm taking you to coffee tomorrow. I'll text you 10 minutes before I pick you up. Got it?"

"Wait, what?" Nico's mind was spinning as he took out a pen and wrote his number on Will's hand.

"I literally just said that I was going to take you out to coffee. Unless you don't want to?" Will raised an eyebrow, as if daring Nico to chicken out. Nico blushed.

"O-okay," he stammered.

"It's a date then! Meet me tomorrow at the address I'll text to you later!" And with that, Will walked away. Nico just stared blankly at the guy walking away. The guy who he literally met ten minutes ago and was an almost complete stranger.

And he didn't mind.

 **So yes, hope you enjoyed that. Now I shall get back to trying to get my brain to function enough for me to squeeze out more chapters for the other fic.**

 **-S.**


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